Different Worlds
by Violet2389
Summary: Paul is a "bad boy" from the "wrong side" of town. His social worker provides him a place to stay when his mom kicks him out of his house, where he meets Vanessa; they're from completely different worlds-which are about to collide. All human, OC.
1. Chapter 1

**New story yay! Everyone in this story is completely, 100% human. Set in Forks-the fancy shmancy posh side of Forks, where Paul-the bad boy from the "wrong" part of town meets Vanessa, the girl whose part of the family Paul has been taken in to. Their worlds will crash together in a way that nobody expected. **

**Different Worlds**

**Chapter 1**

_Paul_

I sat on the dirty sidewalk, feeling absolutely terrible. That scene with my mom earlier had been brutal. I looked at my bag, sitting on the ground beside me. This was the third time she had told me to get out of her house and never come back. Three times she had kicked me out. Three times was enough. The first time was enough for me.

This time I wouldn't go back. No matter what Mr. Pruitt-my social worker-said this time, I wouldn't go back. I couldn't go back to that false "family" again. Her and her new "perfect" husband-who really wasn't perfect at all-could see what it was really like without me. What my mom had done to deserve and abusive husband like Jim-I had no idea. I knew that my dad hadn't been great to her either, but he was sure as hell better than Jim. But he had vanished. Of course, he'd try to escape this sorry little excuse for a town.

You know, if she had maybe treated me better, maybe I could find it in myself to feel some remorse for her. The woman who I had stopped considering my mom months ago, I really couldn't find it in myself to feel bad. I knew that I should, but I couldn't. I fished Mr. Pruitt's business card out of my bag, and twirled it around my fingers. He had told me to call him if I ever needed him…I figured this was one of those occasions. His home and cell numbers were on the card too, but it was pretty late. I didn't want to wake him up or disturb his family, but what could I do? I didn't even want to call him, he had a family, he had his own life, and he didn't need to worry about me.

No one else did.

I bristled at the thought. Nobody cared about me anymore, nobody cared what happened to me. I thought to Jared, maybe he could give me a place to stay.

I almost laughed at the thought. Yeah, go stay with Jared and listen to his parents constantly arguing.

I didn't seem to have any other option other than calling Mr. Pruitt. I checked my watch-it was only eleven-thirty. He could still be awake. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and deliberated for a long time. I wasn't sure.

I dialed his cell number, and not surprisingly, got his voicemail.

"Hey…Peter, it's me…Paul…could you…could you give me a call when you get this? On my cell, not the house," I paused and took a deep breath. "Things got pretty bad at home…I think I need some help…thanks…thanks again."

I ended the call and held my head in my hands. Peter was a good guy, I knew he had two kids; he was protective of his family. He really felt for the kids he worked with. Numerous times when things got bad at home he had offered to let me stay at his place for a few nights, but I had always declined. I didn't want to feel like I was taking advantage of him and his family.

A few minutes later my phone rang; I looked at the ID and saw that it was Peter.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"I'm on my way, where are you?" he asked.

I told him where I was and he stayed on the phone with me. As silly as it sounds, Peter staying on the phone with me comforted me a little bit. Peter was from the rich part of Washington; big houses…fancy cars…all that jazz. I exhaled deeply; I already had the speech in my head to tell Peter that I didn't want to go back. The second time she kicked me out I had practically begged him, this time I decided I was just going to refuse.

I saw his headlights approach, and stood up, hefting my bag onto my shoulder. I went over to his car, and opened the passenger door.

"Little warm for leather," Peter noted, looking at my jacket once I was in the car.

"No way in hell was I leaving this behind," I said. I knew he could tell that I was angry.

He chuckled and started driving. I stared out the window as he drove through the streets of Washington. We were both quiet on the drive.

"Where are we going?" I asked finally.

"I'm taking you to my place."

"No, Peter, I can't let you do that," I said.

"Then where are you going to go?" he asked.

I hesitated.

"I know you don't want to go back to your place. You didn't want to go back there last time, you don't want to go back this time-I know you, Paul. If I tell you that I'm going to take you back there so you can patch things up with her, you're just going to refuse," he said.

I took a deep breath. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"We'll help you get back on your feet."

"You don't have to do that," I objected. "I've got friends in the area, I can still with them until…" I trailed off.

"Until what?" he asked.

I hesitated. He was right, what was the end of that sentence?

"Listen, this may or may not be permanent. I can't just leave you out on the streets," he said.

"Come on, Peter, I can't permanently stay at your place. What about your family?" I asked.

"My wife already knows that you're coming," he said. "Come on, I've been your social worker forever, when your mom was first having troubles. It's fine with me."

"I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," I said.

"You aren't-we're offering."

I leaned back in my seat and blew all the air out of my lungs.

"We have the extra room and the money to support another kid. Paul, it's really no trouble at all."

"I don't want to stay permanently."

He took a deep breath. "Were you planning on going back to school?"

I laughed a short laugh. "Yeah, right."

"There's a high school near me," he said. "We can get you going there, we can help you. It would be selfish of us not to, Paul."

I didn't say anything. Soon enough, the look of the houses changed from normal to fancy and rich. I almost laughed to myself. If any of my friends back home saw me here they'd laugh at me and tell me to get my sorry ass back to La Push. This place was way too fancy for any of us down in La Push. We were notoriously from the "wrong side" of town. Whenever any of us went into this part of town, we got looks. It was like people could tell that we were from La Push just from walking around their posh town.

Peter pulled up into a driveway and immediately I felt out of place. I had never been to his house before-it was bigger and fancier than I had imagined. His house was like a mansion.

"I didn't know social workers made so much money," I noted.

"We don't, my wife's a doctor."

He parked the car in the garage and we got out of his car.

"Peter, you really don't have to do this…with everything else you've done, I would've been fine in a hotel for a few days-or at a friend's place. I can't live here permanently…I'd feel too bad."

"It wouldn't be permanent," he said simply. "In a year you turn eighteen. Then you can choose what to do from there. As long as you stay out of trouble, I don't see why you can't stay here."

"Are you really willing to do this for me?" I demanded. "Why? I don't get it, Peter. I don't understand why you're so willing to take responsibility for me."

"Because right now, you legally don't have a guardian. You don't have anyone to care for you, and I've known you since you were a kid and getting into fights on the playground," he said, smile hinting at his face. "And you know what else? I was you. My mom kicked me out when I was fifteen. I didn't have anyone to help me. I had to live with friends during the school year, then when I got a job and enough money I had my own apartment and made my way through college. It was hard for me, and it was hard to not have a steady place to live."

I hadn't known that Peter had gone through what I was going through when he was kid. He had never told me that, and we had known each other for years.

"I should've taken you away from your mother years ago, I knew she wasn't suitable to raise you when I first met her," he said.

"And stick me in foster care?" I asked bitterly.

"Wouldn't that have been better than having to deal with her?" he asked.

I didn't answer him; I knew that he was right. What was I saying? Was I really more willing to stay with her than go into foster care-or stay with Peter?

"Come on, let's go meet the family," he said, leading me into the house. I felt nervous as we walked through the door going into the house.

_Vanessa_

I was sitting in my room on my laptop, not really doing anything important. I couldn't concentrate on doing anything.

"Ness?" my mom's voice floated over to me from my bedroom door.

I spun around in my chair to look at her. "What's up?"

"We need to talk about something," she said.

My stomach lurched. She couldn't have found out about what Jessica and I had done at her party could she? And what we had done wasn't even that bad; it had just been a bit of drinking. I hadn't gotten high or anything and Edward had brought me home before midnight.

"What is it?" I asked.

She sat down on my bed and took a deep breath. "Your father is bringing one of his kids here…to stay here for a bit."

"What?" I asked. "He's bringing someone to stay here…?"

She nodded. "I know that it's short notice, but he called your father about fifteen minutes ago-his mother kicked him out of their house. I don't know all the details, but this is one of the boys who your father has known since he was a kid. Your father couldn't help but let him stay here…you know what your father went though as a kid-he doesn't want to see this boy go through that too."

"How old is he?" I asked.

"Seventeen-he's your age," she said. "They're probably going to be here soon."

"Have you told Ryan yet?" I asked. I wasn't sure how my brother would react to letting some stranger in our house.

"Not yet, I figured I'd tell you first."

I leaned back in my chair. "Where is he going to stay?"

She laughed. "What do you mean?"

"I know he's staying _here_, but what room is he staying in?" I asked.

"I was debating between one of the guest rooms on this floor, the attic, or the pool house," she said.

"You'd stick him in the pool house?" I asked.

"That was really only to make you feel better about him staying here," she said. "So I guess it's either the attic or one of the guest rooms."

"That attic is fully furnished and in good condition," I said. "It's like a guest bedroom up there, you and your psychotic decorating."

"Hey, your grandfather wouldn't let me go into interior decorating like I wanted to, he made me continue his practise, I had to outlet my want for decorating _somewhere_," she said, laughing.

"Mom, why _did_ you listen to Grandpa?" I asked. "I mean-you never wanted to be a doctor."

"Sometimes, honey, it's about a bit more than what you _want_. Sometimes you need to make changes that don't exactly please you," she said. "But don't get me wrong, I like being a doctor, but I would have rathered been a decorator."

"You decorated our entire house," I said, smiling. "I can tell you'd rather be a decorator."

She chuckled. "Well, I did a pretty good job here, didn't I?"

"You did," I agreed. "So when is he getting here?"

"Should be here soon, La Push isn't too far from here."

"He's from La Push?" I asked.

She nodded. "Now don't you start stereotyping. Your dad knows that he isn't like everyone else from there. He's known this kid since he was five years old, he just lives in the wrong area."

I took a deep breath. "Alright…let me know when he's here I guess."

She stood up and smiled at me. "Wish me luck telling your brother."

"Good luck," I said with a laugh. She left my room and went down the hall to Ryan's room.

I turned back to my laptop and tried to concentrate on whatever I had been doing. I couldn't believe that my dad was bringing one of his clients home to stay with us. Was it going to be permanent? Knowing my dad-yes. Knowing him he would let him stay here until he was in college, or even out of college, I had no idea.

Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. My dad was a pretty good judge of character; he wouldn't let someone dangerous come to live with us.

…right?

I shook my head, trying to clear it, I trusted my dad, and he wouldn't let anyone dangerous in our house. People make mistakes, and my dad understood that. No matter what the reason was that he was coming to stay with us, it couldn't be something terrible. Like my mom had said, he had been kicked out of his house. It wasn't like he was a criminal or anything.

Was he?

I had no idea. It was frustrating that I didn't know anything about this guy and he was going to be living right above my room or down the hall from me.

A while later, my mom called Ryan and me downstairs. He was here. Ryan and I walked down the stairs together.

"What do you think about all this?" he whispered to me.

I shrugged. I didn't exactly know how I felt about it.

"I don't like it," he whispered.

"Why not?" I asked.

"He's from La Push," the way he said it was like it was this disgusting place.

We didn't talk anymore as we had gotten to the bottom of the stairs. My parents were in the kitchen, we could hear their voices. We went into the kitchen.

"We don't want you to feel like an outsider here, we're going to do everything we can to make you feel welcome," I could hear my mom saying.

"Thanks," I heard a male's voice. He had a husky voice-a husky sexy voice.

We turned the corner into the kitchen, and my jaw almost dropped at seeing him. He was one of the hottest guys I had ever seen. He was wearing a leather jacket and a thin white t-shirt and jeans. He had the tanned, native skin that all the guys from La Push had and jet black hair.

"Ahh, this is our daughter Vanessa and our son Ryan," my dad said. "Guys this is Paul."

He turned and met my eyes. I felt like my jaw was about to drop right onto the ground. He was absolutely gorgeous.

"Hi," I squeaked as Ryan did a little wave.

"Hey," he said.

"Paul is going to be staying with us for a while…we don't know how long yet, but I want both of you to do everything you can to make him feel welcome here," Dad said.

I nodded, smiling. I felt flustered and weird inside. And we haven't even said three words to each other.

What was I doing? I was with Edward. Why was this guy, Paul, making me feel so weird? It reminded me of when I had first met Edward and started dating him in ninth grade.

"Paul decided to stay in the attic, Ness, why don't you show him the way?" my mom asked.

"Um…sure," I said. "Follow me."

My dad smiled encouragingly at him and he walked up to me, so I started to walk out of the kitchen. I hadn't realized how tall he was before now. My head barely reached his shoulder. We quietly walked together, and I couldn't help but be all too aware of every single time our arms brushed each other. I took him upstairs and pointed out my bedroom, Ryan's bedroom and my parents' bedroom. I'm not sure why I felt the need to point out all our bedrooms but I did.

"There's the main bathroom we use too, but don't worry there's a bathroom upstairs you can use," I said.

"You have a bathroom in your attic?" he asked, surprised.

"My mom is a decorating freak," I said. "Every inch of this house is completely furnished. You pretty much have your own little apartment up there…except for food. There's no fridge up there or anything."

He chuckled and it sent my heart racing.

"Is that how it is for everyone around here?" he asked as I led him up the stairs to the attic.

"Pretty much," I said. "You know, all the guys around here are on the water polo team and the football team. Oh and we all wear diamonds and polo shirts. No less than that for us."

"Is that sarcasm I'm sensing?" he asked.

"It sure is," I said, then decided to change topics. "So, La Push, huh?"

"Yeah, where we're all from gangs and carry guns and steal cars, cool huh?"

I smiled in spite of myself. "Is that sarcasm _I'm_ sensing?"

"Maybe," he said. By this time we had gotten to the top of the attic stairs and were in the attic. "Or maybe I'm being completely serious, and maybe I'm part of a gang and maybe I'm running from the cops and taking refuge from your dad."

I looked up at him. "If that were the case, you wouldn't tell me, and you'd actually look guilty talking to me right now."

"And how would you know?" he asked, smile lighting in his eyes. "You met me not ten minutes ago…I could be a good actor."

"Not by the way you look at my dad-as if he's your own father…and he's known you since you were five years old," I said. "You know, it's funny that he's known you for so long and we've never met."

"Funny how things work out, huh?" he said. "Known your dad for twelve years, never had any idea this was the kind of house he lived in."

I leveled my gaze to meet his eyes. "And what kind of house is this?"

"The rich people kind," he said simply-and seriously. "Where I'm from…some houses are probably about as big as this room."

I looked away. "Well, that must suck."

"Yeah, especially when you've got an abusive stepfather and an oblivious mother," he said, slight tint of bitterness to his tone.

"Is that what happened to you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, but our house was bigger."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I lay on my bed that night, tossing and turning; I couldn't get Paul out of my mind. He was literally right above my room. I felt like I could almost see through the ceiling. I could picture him lying in the bed up there, alone, trying to fall asleep.

What was it about him that drew me to him so much? My bed was against my wall that had the window, so I scooted over to it. I opened my window and stared outside, feeling frustrated. I didn't understand what the hell was going on with me.

I had only spoken this guy for what? Ten minutes? Probably less. Yet I was so hung up over him. What was wrong with me? I stared out at the sky, looking at the stars. It was a beautiful night, it wasn't cloudy at all, and the stars were clear for me to see. I felt at peace being able to look up at the stars, but it still didn't make me feel any clearer about Paul. I didn't even know why I was feeling this way.

I lay back down on my bed, again staring up at the ceiling. I threw the blankets off of me and went downstairs to the kitchen. Had Paul and I flirted earlier? I thought back to our conversation. When we had been talking about the difference between our towns…I felt like it had been a bit of flirting. Or maybe I was just completely overreacting. I took a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water.

"Hey," I heard an all-too-familiar husky voice from behind me.

I turned to see Paul coming into the kitchen wearing flannel pyjama pants that my mom had given him and a black wife beater…which showed off his muscled arms...oh my god he was _so_ hot. "Hey."

"I couldn't sleep," he explained. "I was hoping for a glass of water."

"Glasses are in that cupboard," I said, pointing. "And there's filtered water in the fridge, or you can obviously use the tap."

He got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. We were both quiet-I don't think either of us really knew what to say to the other one, either that or he was just quiet, thinking about why he was here. I wanted to ask him why his mom had kicked him out, but I felt like that'd be too personal.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked why I'm here," he said.

"You wanted a glass of water," I said.

"No," he said, moving closer to me. "Why I'm _here_, in your house."

Was he reading my mind or something? "My mom told me-your mom kicked you out."

"I meant that I'm surprised you haven't asked _why _she kicked me out…I'd be curious as hell if I were you," he said.

"I figured that'd be too personal to ask," I said. "Of course I'm curious, how could I not be?"

"I could be dangerous," he said, dangerous smile lighting his face.

"What? Did you murder someone?" I asked sarcastically.

He chuckled. "Maybe."

"You're lying."

"Kind of weird how you can read me so well after only meeting me…two-three hours ago?" he said.

"It's a talent," I said, taking a sip of water.

He gave me a long look. "She kicked me out because I told her the truth about her husband. I told her that he isn't good for her, and she couldn't handle the truth, so she told me to get out of her house…but before telling me to leave, she said some nasty shit to me. Really, really low blows. I wasn't going to leave, but when I went to my room to pack my bag, I realized that I had to go. There was no point in staying there, not when I would just get harassed and abused."

"They…they abused you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"My step-dad, yeah," he said, taking a sip of water. "Half the time my mom is too drunk to even realize what's happening."

"That must be terrible to live around," I said sympathetically.

"Well, at least I'm out of it now," he said, exhaling deeply. "Your dad…I don't think I'll ever be able to thank him enough."

I was surprised at how serious our conversation was. What had happened to our light conversation earlier? Earlier we had been so lighthearted with each other, what had happened?

He sighed. "I guess I won't be getting much sleep tonight, but I guess I'd better go back upstairs."

"Or, we could spend some time together," I suggested. Whoa, where had that come from?

He looked at me oddly. "What?"

"I'm not going to be getting any sleep either, we could watch movies or something, hell, we could even go for a walk," okay, seriously, where the hell was this coming from?!

"I wouldn't mind watching a movie," he said. "What do you have?"

"Anything and everything," I said, leading him into the living room. Okay, I _really _liked Paul. I didn't know why I liked him so much; I literally had the perfect boyfriend, Edward.

Okay, he wasn't perfect, but who was? Nobody was perfect, yeah Edward had his flaws, but didn't everybody? And I was sure as hell flawed. We decided on a horror movie to watch together, I sat beside him on the couch, trying not to feel the heat radiating from his body. I was all too aware of how close we were sitting, as I'm sure he was.

As the movie started I glanced over at him. He was concentrating on the screen, and I examined how strong his features were. He was _so _hot. I was _so_ tempted to rest my head against his shoulder it was unreal. I wanted to curl into his side and have him put his arm around my shoulders. I turned my attention back to the movie. It was so hard not to lean against him.

At one point during the movie, I jumped, and Paul noticed. He placed his hand on my shoulder and met my eyes.

"You alright?" he asked.

I nodded, feeling my face heat and lowering my eyes in embarrassment. "Fine."

He took his hand off my shoulder, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed the loss of contact, he was sitting _so _close to me, and his mere touch had sent heat throughout my entire body. I watched the movie, and did something I didn't think I would have. I scooted closer to him and rested my head against shoulder-I couldn't help it. I felt him tense slightly, and then felt him relax and tentatively put his arm around my shoulders. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and continued watching the movie.

Guilt seeped into me as I realized what I was doing. Did this count as cheating? No…I didn't think so, it wasn't like we were _doing_ anything.

_Yeah, you're just snuggling with a guy you just met on your couch. You're doing absolutely nothing, right?_

I pushed that thought out of mind. I was trying not to feel guilty about sitting here with Paul what were we doing, other than watching a movie? We were just sitting together…yet I was tucked securely under his arm with my head on his shoulder.

_**Paul**_

I was surprised that Vanessa had gotten so close to me. When she had put her head on my shoulder, I had been _so _surprised. My heart was hammering against my chest…and it scared me. I had never acted this way about a girl before in my entire life. I had never gotten nervous or flustered around a girl before in my life-what was so different about Vanessa?

I hadn't noticed she had fallen asleep, until I realized that she had become completely still apart from her breathing. I wasn't sure what to do. I turned off the TV and looked over at her, I didn't want to wake her, but I couldn't just leave her here, and I sure as hell couldn't sleep with her here on the couch-what would Peter do? He'd be absolutely livid.

I did the only thing that I could really think to do-I scooped her up into my arms, being super careful not to wake her, and carried her upstairs. I put her on her bed, and put her blanket over her, for some reason…I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay there with her.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and left her bedroom, closing the door behind me.

"What were you doing in her room?"

I turned to see her brother looking at me expectantly, and crossing his arms tightly over his chest…waiting for an answer.

"It isn't what you think," I began-shit…that had made me sound guilty. "We were watching a movie together downstairs, she fell asleep, and I brought her to bed. That's it."

He moved closer to me. "I don't like that you're here, I'm not going to hide that. I don't know you, but if you do anything to my sister, you'll be sorry. Her boyfriend is one of my closest friends. If you do anything with her, he'll kill you. Trust me."

I looked down at him, he was almost my height, but I knew if it came to a fight, I'd be able to take him. Anger shot through me, but I ignored it. I nodded at him and went up to the attic.

I was livid.

I understood that he was protective of her, if I had a sister I would be too, but for him to just assume that something had happened between us…

A thought struck me; now _nothing _could happen between Vanessa and me. For some reason, the thought upset me. I flopped onto my bed. A girl had never shaken me up like this before in my life. Since I had first seen her, her image had been burned into my mind.

I couldn't get her out of my head.

When I had gone downstairs to get a glass of water, I had hoped that I would see her. I had doubted that I would, but I had still hoped. When I had seen her standing in the kitchen with her back to me, I had froze. I considered just going back upstairs and not even bothering to talk to her. But, I had pulled myself together and talked to her.

I still didn't understand why this was happening. When it came to girls, I had never had issues like this before. This was completely new territory for me and to be honest, it scared me.

Nothing could happen between Vanessa and I though. She had a boyfriend and a protective brother. If some guy all of a sudden took my girl from me, I'd be livid.

But I _wanted _Vanessa. Was it just the fact that she was off limits to me that I wanted her so badly? If anything were to happen between her and I, would Peter look at my differently? Ever since I had been a kid, I had looked at Peter as if he was a parent to me. He was sure as hell more of a parent to me than my mom had ever been, and my dad-who even knew where he was? I didn't want to lose Peter's respect and trust for me. I felt like a son to him, but I didn't feel like a brother to Vanessa. Was that weird? Liz-Peter's wife-had pretty much welcomed me into the family as if I was an actual relative, should I see Vanessa as a sister to me? I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure I'd be able to see her as a sister to me.

Ugh, what was wrong with me? Seriously. What had gotten into me that I was so wrapped up over one girl? I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. I doubted I would be able to sleep tonight, but it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

I adjusted myself on the bed and leaned against the pillows. I closed my eyes, hoping to catch sleep.

As far as I could tell, I didn't. I'm sure I had gotten at least an hour of sleep, but I couldn't be sure.

At about nine o'clock, I headed downstairs. I figured there wasn't much else for me to do in the attic.

"You're up early," Liz noted when I walked into the kitchen. "Did you sleep okay?" She handed me a bagel.

I wanted to tell her that I had slept like a log, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to lie to her. "Not really."

I put the bagel into the toaster and waited for it.

"Was it the room? You could try one of the other guest bedrooms or the pool house."

To be completely honest, I was tempted to ask if I could move out into the pool house. But again, for some reason I didn't.

"No, I think it's just the new…environment," I said. "I'm sure I'll be fine within a few days."

"Don't hesitate to ask if you need something," she said, smiling.

I nodded and smiled at her.

"Good morning," Vanessa's voice floated through the kitchen. I felt my stomach lurch ever so slightly.

"Morning, Ness," Liz said.

"Morning," I mumbled. I didn't meet her eyes; I looked down, waiting for my bagel to finish toasting.

"I have to get to work, Paul, I was thinking maybe later I would go with you to a mall so you can get some more things, school stuff especially," Liz said.

"Oh, um…thanks," I said.

"I'll take him," volunteered Vanessa. Liz looked surprised…as I'm sure I looked as well. "I mean, I know what to get, I've been going to that school for three years, and I know where the mall is. And mom, you won't be getting home till late tonight, so why not?"

"Alright," Liz said. "Is that okay with you, Paul?"

"It's fine," I said, smiling at her to prove it.

"Alright, Ness, here's my credit card, use it for his purchases," she handed Vanessa a black credit card. "I'll see you guys later. Your dad is already at work."

Liz left and Vanessa and I were alone in the kitchen. She cut a bagel apart and leaned against the counter, obviously waiting for me to be done with the toaster.

"What happened last night…" she finally said.

"Can't happen again," I cut her off.

She turned her eyes on me, and I couldn't break away from her stare.

"We can't ever watch a movie together again?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Your brother saw me leaving your room last night," I said. Her expression didn't change. "He thought…"

"He thought what?" she asked. "That something had happened between us? And I'm sure you would have explained exactly what had happened."

"I did," I said. "And he said that your boyfriend would kill me if anything happened between us."

She hesitated. "Don't listen to him…I wouldn't let Edward do anything to you." She bit her lip, deliberating. "Look…I know that I just met you…but I feel like…I feel like I have feelings for you. I know it's weird and insane, but it's true…and I can tell-no matter how much you try to hide it-that you feel the same. Otherwise you wouldn't have put your arm around me last night."

The sound of my bagel popping out of the toaster made both of us jump. I put my bagel on a plate and moved out of her way. There was silence as I spread butter on my bagel. Neither of us said a word and it was an intense and awkward silence. I had no idea what to say to her.

She felt the same way that I did. That should have made me feel better.

I don't know how it made me feel

"And…I just completely made a fool out of myself," she finally said, taking a deep breath. "It's okay, now at least I know."

"You're right," I said quietly, hating myself for it. "Ever since I saw you last night, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. Last night…when I took you up to your room, I didn't want to leave-not for any reason other than just being near you. It's been driving me crazy. But, do you know what's been driving me even _more _crazy?" she shook her head. "The fact that nothing can happen."

"Why can't anything happen?" she asked softly.

"You have a boyfriend, and a brother who is overprotective of you, and a father who I trust with my life more than I trust myself."

"Your relationship with him won't change regardless of what happens between us," she said, voice almost a whisper.

I didn't say anything. I'm sure she was right about that, but her brother and boyfriend would want my head if I did anything to her.

"We can't," I said, voice ringing with a tone of finality. "I'm sorry, but I can't, Vanessa, if something negative happened…"

She nodded. I could see the disappointment clear on her face. I tried not to let it bother me too much.

"I understand," she said, taking a bit out of her bagel. "But-"

She was cut off by her brother coming down the stairs.

"Good morning," he mumbled, tiredness clear on his face.

I nodded at him, and Vanessa turned back to me. "Will you be ready in twenty minutes?"

"What for?" Ryan asked.

"I'm taking Paul to that big mall in Seattle so he can get some stull for school," she explained to Ryan.

"Uh, yeah I can be ready in twenty minutes," I said.

She left the kitchen and went up to her bedroom. I finished off my bagel, avoiding eye contact with Ryan. I went upstairs to my room and got dressed.

Today would be interesting to say the least.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_**Vanessa**_

Needless to say, the drive to Seattle was awkward. After our little chat in the kitchen it seemed that neither of us really knew what to say to the other one. I had pretty much laid out all my feelings to him, and I could tell that he felt the same way-but he didn't want to admit it. He had told me that nothing could happen between us, and I can't say that it didn't disappoint me. I was so into Paul, but I knew that nothing could happen between us. My parents would never be on board for it, and Ryan would probably try to kill him if anything did happen.

"What exactly are we getting today?" Paul asked.

"Clothes," I said. "You'll need clothes for school and suits…well at least one suit."

"A suit? He repeated.

"Yes, a suit," I said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because my parents throw fancy parties that we need to dress up for."

He was quiet; I turned to look at him.

He met my eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm not used to this."

I smiled in spite of myself. "I can tell."

"I come from the other-worse-part of town…I'm not cut out for this shit."

"You'll get used to it," I said.

He laughed a short, almost bitter laugh. "Yeah, right."

"You will," I assured him, turning a corner. "I know it's weird of me to say this, since I was basically born into it, but all the fancy parties really don't take up much time."

He was quiet again. I could tell how much of a change this was for him. I felt bad for him, I really did-and no it wasn't just because of how I felt about him. I sincerely felt bad for him.

"So, tell me about La Push-the real La Push," I added with a smile. "It can't all be gangs and stealing cars."

He laughed. "That rarely happens."

"Oh, so you just said that to scare me?" I teased.

"You started it," he pointed out. "I haven't noticed you or your mom wearing any diamonds-ya know, I checked in case I want to steal them and sell them."

I could tell he was joking; two could play at this game. "Oh, we hide them, in case hoodlums like you break into our house, you know, we have secret rooms behind bookcases and such."

He chuckled. "You're good at that."

I grinned. "I know."

I turned into the parking lot of the mall and pulled into a parking space.

As it turned out, shopping with Paul was a lot of fun. And he cleaned up _real nice_ in a suit. He looked _so_ hot in that suit, it was killing me.

He glanced over at me, and I did my best to hide my gawking over him.

"How do I look?" he asked.

It took me a minute to regain my thoughts, so I stood up and went over to him. I walked around him, looking him over.

"Really good," I said, smiling. "You clean up nice."

He looked away. "I've never actually…worn a suit before."

I noticed his cheeks looked a touch pinker and I could tell that he was embarrassed to admit that to me.

My smile widened at him. "Well, it's a good look for you."

"I can't let your mom buy this for me," he said, meeting my eyes again. "It's too much. Buying me clothes and shit for school…it isn't fair to her."

"It's the least she could do," I assured him.

"I feel like I'm intruding on you guys," he said, taking a deep breath. "I should just go back to La Push, try and sort everything out with my mom."

I put my hand on his arm. "We both know that you don't want to do that."

"It may not be what I want to do, but it's what I should do, Vanessa."

"Fine, then I'll drive you there right now," I said, challenging him.

He hesitated. I could see the conflict in his eyes. I could tell he really didn't want to and I used it to my advantage.

"See? You don't want to. So let's pay for this suit and we'll go home."

He sighed as he went back into the fitting room to get out of the suit. I felt a twinge of disappointment when he came out of the fitting room in his regular clothes. It's just that he looked _so good _in a suit.

We were walking through the mall when I saw Edward, Ryan, and a few of their friends coming towards us.

"Shit," I whispered.

"What?" Paul asked, moving a bit closer to me, in what I could only hope was a protective way.

"Just…don't say anything, okay?" I whispered as they were now within hearing range.

He looked confused, but then his face cleared when he saw the direction of my stare.

"Hey baby!" Edward called to me, not seeming to notice Paul standing beside me. He came to my side, put his arm on my shoulders and kissed me on the top of my head, and that was when he noticed Paul. "Who the fuck is this?"

"Edward, this…this is Paul, he's living with us for…for a while," I said.

"That doesn't tell me who he is, and why he's here with you," Edward said. I could hear the anger clear in his voice.

I glanced at Paul to see anger clear as day on his face, but he was holding it in. he was refraining from making any comments that would get him into any trouble.

"He's the guy from La Push I told you about," Ryan said.

"Ahh, a fucking La Push punk, I see," Edward said, chuckling arrogantly.

_Snap._

"What the fuck did you just say?" Paul practically growled.

"You heard me," Edward said arrogantly. "I heard you guys have to rob convenience stores to support your parents' addictions." Laughter erupted from the group of guys, and Paul's face was absolutely thunderous. He was standing at his full height, and he looked like he was literally shaking with anger. He was scaring _me_ with how intimidating and angry he looked.

He moved closer to Edward, and I pushed away from him and shook his arm off of me. I put my hand on Paul's chest, trying to get him to stop.

"Paul, let's just go," I tried.

"Naw Nessie, stay out of this," Edward said, grinning cockily. "I could take him."

"Edward, _stop_," I said. I grabbed Paul's arm and looked up at him, pleading with my eyes. "Let's go."

I led him away from Edward and Ryan and their friends, while Paul quietly followed behind. Once in the car, it was awkward and quiet again. I ground my teeth together as I drove out of the parking lot.

"Your brother hates me," Paul finally said.

"Good for my brother," I said with a shrug. "I don't hate you, and neither do my parents. Ryan…Ryan just feels threatened. He's not the only 'son' anymore."

"I'm guessing that was your boyfriend?" he asked quietly.

"Not for very long if he keeps doing that shit," I said. "I can't believe he would say something like that to you. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, it wasn't you who said it," he said, staring out the car window. I could hear the anger in his voice, but I decided not to talk to him about it anymore. If he wanted to talk about it, I'm sure he'd say something.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, I needed to change the subject, and I couldn't just sit in silence anymore.

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Well, _I'm_ starving."

"I make a mean grilled cheese," he said distractedly.

I turned to look at him, surprised. The look on his face told me he hadn't exactly meant to say that.

"Do you now?" I asked, smile tugging at my lips. He looked away; I could tell he was embarrassed.

"All the La Push kids love my grilled cheese," he said-I could tell he didn't really want to touch on that, but it was just too cute a mental image. The thought of Paul babysitting little kids made my heart swell in my chest. It was just so cute!

"Do you babysit often?" I asked.

"Nah, one of my mom's old friends, Sue, babysits all the kids in the neighbourhood; I've helped her out a few times with it."

I glanced at him again; he seemed to be lost in the memories that seemed to be flooding into him.

"Tell me about La Push," I said, remembering that he hadn't told me when I asked him earlier. He met my eyes, and I saw humour in them. I turned back to the road, smile lighting my face. "This time actually tell me, okay?"

He chuckled. "There are a few bad guys around, but other than that it isn't half bad. It's not even close to as bad as the media makes it seem. And no, we don't have to rob convenience stores to pay for our parents' addictions." He said the last part with a bitter edge to his voice.

"What about your parents?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Dad vanished when I was a baby, don't blame him to be honest, and my mom…she hops from boyfriend to boyfriend, sticks with anyone who can get her good booze and hard drugs," he said. "And it doesn't matter if her boyfriend is abusive to her, as long as he gets her what she needs, she's happy."

"You don't even know who your dad is?" I whispered.

He shook his head. "No idea at all."

"That's…" I trailed off, having no idea what to say.

Out of the corner of my eye he shrugged. "Harry and Sue-friends of the family-were basically my parents growing up, Sue knew that my mom wasn't able to take care of me. She told me after my dad left was when my mom started using. Sue would take care of me during the day, and my mom was basically oblivious to it, content in her little bubble of high. It was like she was in her own world, and as long as she had a fuck buddy and drug supplier, she was fine."

I was quiet. I didn't know what to say to him.

"Don't pity me," he said, laughing a bitter laugh.

"I can't help but feel bad," I said. "I mean, I can't even imagine having to go through what you went through."

"Yeah, but I'm past it now," he said with a shrug. "Or at least…I'm trying to be." Was that longing I sensed in his tone? I glanced at him again, to catch him looking at me, only for him to turn away as soon as I made eye contact with him. I sighed in frustration as I pulled into our garage. I helped Paul take his purchases into the house, and went with him up to the attic to help him put it all away.

"You don't need to help put everything away," he said. I could tell he was trying not to sound rude.

I shrugged. "I don't mind, and I know you need help with what to hang up and what to put in the armoire."

He chuckled. "You're good at this."

I smiled. "I know I am, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it."

He rolled his eyes at me as I put away his things. I was angry with Edward, and for the first time I actually thought about how angry I was with him. How dare he say something like that to Paul?

"Whoa-what's up with you?" Paul asked, walking into the closet. I guess my face had given away my emotions.

"I'm just…I'm mad," I said. He gave me a quizzical look. "What my boyfriend said to you-it's getting me angry."

He shrugged. "I'm used to it."

I stared at him, wide eyed. "What?"

He laughed. "Come on, as if you don't know how people from here treat us. Anytime any of us walk into a restaurant here, we get looks as if we're trash; I've even had people call me worse than what your boyfriend did." He shrugged. "So that's why we tend to just steer clear."

"No wonder you hate us," I said, and immediately regretted it. I hadn't meant for it to come out the way it had. The look on his face terrified me. He looked so _angry_. It took me right back to today in the mall with Edward.

"_Why_ would I be here if I hated you?" he demanded, anger clear in his voice. I shrank under his hard gaze.

"I-" I began, but stopped. What the hell could I say? _I didn't mean it like that_? No, that just sounded stupid.

"I do _not _hate you," he said.

"I-I didn't mean _us_, as in my family and me, I meant Forks in general. Trust me; I know how you feel about this damn town," I said.

He glowered at me; I could tell he was mad, though behind the angry exterior, there was some expression in his eyes that I couldn't read. Relief? I wasn't sure, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. A little while later we had everything put away, and Mom came upstairs.

"Oh, you're home. How was it today?"

"Really good," Paul said. "We got a lot of stuff."

She poked her head in the closet and whistled, obviously impressed.

"You _did _get a lot," she said. She looked at me and beamed. "Dinner will be ready soon, I'll call you when it's done."

"Mom, you're cooking?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

She chuckled. "No, your dad's home." She glanced at Paul-obviously noticing the confused expression on his face. "I'm a terrible cook-it's Peter who does most of the cooking around here…either him or Vanessa. She makes a mean mac 'n cheese."

She left the attic and Paul turned his amused expression to meet my eyes. "Mac 'n cheese, eh?"

I felt heat rush to my face. "Mmhmm."

"You'll have to make it for me sometime," he said, smile tugging at his lips.

"Only if you'll make me a grilled cheese sandwich," I said, breaking into a face splitting grin.

Amusement touched his eyes. "Deal."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Your mom's right," Paul said. "You do make a mean mac 'n cheese."

I grinned at him. "I know I do."

It had been about a week since that scene with Edward at the mall, and I hadn't spoken or seen him since then. I also hadn't really spoken to Ryan since then, except to tell him to get out of my way or pass me something at the dinner table. I was so annoyed with him and how he was acting towards Paul. It was driving me crazy.

Tonight Paul and I had the house to ourselves. My parents had gone to some charity event and Ryan was at a party. I had been invited, but I opted out of going. I didn't want Paul to be lonely here, and I was still annoyed at Edward, and I knew he'd be there, as it was at his house. His sister, Alice, had asked me to come, but I told her no. I loved Alice; she and I were best friends, but I just wasn't in the mood to deal with Edward tonight.

Anyway, I made Paul promise to finish watching the horror movie from before with me, since I had fallen asleep last time we watched it. I could tell he had been slightly reluctant to say yes, but I had convinced him. We sat on the couch together, bowls of my macaroni and cheese in hand, and picked up the movie where we left off. I was sitting close to him again, but I yearned to be closer. I wanted to be cuddled up next to him; I wanted to have my head resting on his shoulder, with his arm wrapped securely around me. I wanted to feel safe and comfortable.

I hesitantly moved closer to him, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed him shift slightly. _Okay, he's uncomfortable. Stop trying._ But I, of course, didn't listen to my brain, and scooted even closer to him.

"Vanessa…what are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I'm cold," I said innocently.

He took a deep breath. "You have a boyfriend, it would be _wrong_."

I looked away from him. "You saw how he acted the other day; it's always like that with him. Anytime I'm even speaking to another guy at school, or if I happen to see a guy friend when we're out together, he gets super protective. I can't deal with that anymore. I've now realized I have another option." At that last part, I met his eyes evenly. He cupped my face in his hands and leaned close to me. I felt my heart rate increase, and I found myself leaning closer to him; we were mere inches apart. I was looking into his eyes, but then I noticed something change deep within them, and he turned away from me again. Anger boiled in my stomach.

"No," I said forcefully, turning his face back to mine.

"It's wrong," he said, with an angry set to his jaw as he took my hand off of his face. "Your parents…"

"Love you," I said.

"No," he said with a short laugh. "No, they don't."

I turned his face back to mine again so he was forced to look into my eyes.

"Yes, they do," I said. "If they didn't love you, you wouldn't be here. My dad, he's cared about you since you were a kid. You know that as well as I do, Paul, cut the crap. People _do _care about you. My parents care about you, and so do I."

As if something had snapped within him, he grabbed my face and kissed me forcefully. _Oh my God, this was actually happening. He's actually kissing me. _It took my brain a few moments to process what was happening. I kissed him back, and soon enough our tongues were moving together and we had shifted so I was straddling him. His hands were knotted in my hair, while mine were gripping his shoulders tightly.

"We have to stop," he said, breaking away from me.

"No," I said, pulling his face back to mine.

"Vanessa, this isn't right," he said, pushing me away.

I ground my teeth together in frustration. "Why?"

"I'm treading water with your parents, here," he said. "They trust me. What do you think they'd do to me if something were to happen between us?"

"They wouldn't do anything," I said.

"How can you be sure?"

"I know my parents," I said. "They'd be fine with it."

He took a deep breath. "I don't know, Vanessa." _God I love the way he says my name._

"We can take it slow," I said.

"I still don't know," he said. "Your brother…"

"Is irrelevant," I said. He took another deep breath; I could tell he was unsure about it. I didn't want him to be. I pulled his face back to mine. "We can make this work. I can see that you want to."

"I do want to," he said. "But I don't think it can."

"Why can't it?"

He took a deep breath. "I don't know."

I smiled wryly at him. "See? You don't even know. Come on, it won't be as bad as you think. If you want, we can hide it from my family for a while, I don't mind."

"We'll see," he said.

"That's all I'm asking for," I said. I leaned against his shoulder, and he put his arm around me.

But then, guilt stabbed at me. I was still dating Edward. Did this count as cheating? Well, if I had caught Edward kissing another girl, I'd consider that cheating. Regardless of how I now felt about Edward, this was wrong. Paul was right. I had a boyfriend, and I should wait to start anything with Paul until I ended my relationship with Edward.

I felt like a terrible girlfriend, but I couldn't help it. It made me feel awful, but I couldn't bring myself to move away from Paul. I wanted to be with him so badly; it just made me want to end with Edward right now. I wanted to call him up right now and tell him that we were done, but I knew that that wouldn't be a good idea, considering I knew he was drinking tonight and it was easy for him to lose his temper when he was drunk.

So, I settled for laying against Paul, and planning what I'd say to Edward tomorrow.


End file.
